Presently, customer service representatives or agents located at call centers answer incoming 800 number calls to accept product orders, provide customer information, etc. Typically, call centers are centrally located on the merchant's premises. However, with densely populated cities and the associated traffic problems, it is desirable to allow customer service representatives to work at home. In addition, it is advantageous to permit temporary or part-time customer service representatives (which may be hired during holidays or busy periods) to also work from home.
Two problems arise when permitting customer service representatives to work remotely from home. First, it can be difficult to ensure the security of the system. Because the representatives are remotely located, there is a risk that unauthorized personnel will improperly receive access to incoming 800 number calls.
Second, remote workers should be provided the same functionality as call center workers working at the central call center. Remote workers should be provided the merchant application (e.g., a merchant's product order form) to process customer orders in the same manner as performed by representatives located at the central call center on the merchant's premises. More significantly, remote customer service representatives should have full call control functions, such as the ability to place a call on hold, transfer a call, conference together two parties, speed dial functions, etc. Such call control features are not available on analog telephones over analog telephone lines (i.e., POTS lines). Rather, to provide these call control features on a telephone requires a digital telephone operating over a specialized digital telephone line, such as an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) line, and additional equipment. As a result, it is prohibitively expensive to run a digital telephone line and install the necessary equipment to allow each representative to work from home.
Therefore, a need exists for a technique to provide full call center functionality (e.g., the merchant application and full call control functionality) to remote workers and to improve system security.